Cacao Federico proves there’s money in planting cacao
IT was a vision in 2011 inspired by a father that led a son to produce Cacao Federico, a quality tablea product made from organic cacao plants.
This is the story behind Cacao Federico that’s fast-gaining preference among restaurants, hotels and supermarkets in the province.
It was Federico Soriano who had encouraged his son Conrado, as a young boy, to watch him plant cacao. It was this experience that eventually prompted him to gain from that experience in his golden age and dreamed of planting 10,000 cacao trees.
Conrado goes over harvested cacao in his farm.
Conrado has since realized his dream and thousands of cacao plants are now grown in his sprawling farm in Barangay San Vicente, San Jacinto, and the tablea products are produced in his factory in Barangay Osiem, Mangaldan.
His Cacao Federico, made of roasted, ground and molded nibs of fermented pure cacao, has become a favorite to be served with Calasiao puto, suman, dinuguan or for any breakfast meal combo of fried tuyo, tinapa, bangus with egg, tapsilog, longsilog, etc.
Soriano co-founded last year the United Cacao Farmers of Pangasinan with more 20 members only “whose hearts are really into cacao” after serving as president of Province of Pangasinan Cacao and Coffee Growers Association.
He said he was further encouraged by the reaction of Filipinos in the United States who tasted Cacao Federico where he brought some 23 kilos. He said he received a double thumbs-up rating from all.
His Cacao Federico was the first champion in Pangasinan in 2018 in a search for the best-tasting cacao tablea contest organized by the provincial government during the Umaani Expo.
Soriano said the secret for their tablea “is more on quality, not quantity”.
He said others think of their profit first “but for us, no”.
He said representatives from the Department of Agriculture have tasted the product, too, and advised him to ”take care of its unique and superior taste and continue with it” based on its sweetened content.
“We’ve gone around the Philippines and it is only here in Pangasinan did we find the cacao grower with potential,” Soriano quoted the agriculture officials as telling him.
He said this inspired him to work better as there is hope in his product.
He said one can taste really the cacao, not just sugar, of their tablea “because we are still introducing our product to the market and people appreciate the quality of our product”.
Cacao Federico has been issued an FDA approval for their product last year.
The cacao tablea sells for at P60 factory price and sold in the market from P75 up.
He aims is to make his product known not only in his home province but also in other areas “because I’ll be carrying then the good name of Pangasinan”. (PhilStar Wire Service/EVB)
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